Hodgson unhappy at Welbeck yellow

07 September 2013 09:16

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England manager Roy Hodgson was fuming after seeing his side's 4-0 World Cup qualifying victory against Moldova at Wembley overshadowed by a harsh yellow card for striker Danny Welbeck.

The victory took England to the top of Group H but Welbeck, who slotted two goals to bring his England tally to eight, will now miss Tuesday's crucial showdown against Ukraine in Kiev after having already been booked against Montenegro.

With Wayne Rooney missing and Daniel Sturridge doubtful it leaves Hodgson short of firepower.

Hodgson criticised Slovakian referee Ivan Kruzliak for his decision to warn Welbeck in the first half for kicking the ball away after the whistle had gone. He said: "The booking for Danny Welbeck has overshadowed the night, that's for sure.

"I don't think there'll be too many people, even in the refereeing fraternity, who will say that was a clear yellow card. A 40 yard sprint, a ball that arrives on your foot, a split second between the whistle blowing and the shot.

"You'll have to try very hard to persuade me that was a booking. He's out of the game. We'll live with it, deal with it, but I'm not prepared to go down that route that these things happen. I didn't think it was a correct decision.

"The other one he got in Montenegro, we should have had a penalty and he was booked for diving.

"He's been unbelievably unfortunate. We have already lost Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge and it makes life difficult for us. It takes the gloss off a good team performance.

"But we're getting used to dealing with misfortune. The players dealt with the blows we suffered in terms of injury before the game. I hope they do the same thing in Ukraine."

Captain Steven Gerrard opened the scoring and Rickie Lambert scored his second goal in two games as England brushed aside a limited Moldovan side to leapfrog Montenegro on goal difference.